Marcus Prize Winners

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning, through the vision and generosity of Milwaukee’s Marcus Corporation Foundation, has initiated a biennial, international architectural prize to recognize the talent and achievements of emerging architects, in the early stages of their career. The award honors architects for their outstanding work to date—as well as their promise of greatness in the future. The $100,000 prize provides $50,000 to the winner and a further $50,000 to lead a design studio in collaboration with UWM faculty. In addition to the award itself, the Marcus Corporation Foundation provides financial support to host the selection jury and to bring the awardees to Milwaukee for the studio.

Marcus Prize Studio 2012
(Diébédo Francis Kéré, Kéré Architecture, and Associate Professor Chris Cornelius)The 2012 studio, collaboratively spearheaded by Diébédo Francis Kéré, founder of Kéré Architecture (Berlin, Germany) and Associate Professor Chris Cornelius, focused on underserved areas of Milwaukee, proposing interventions that would help neighborhoods and harnessing Kéré's ideology of community engagement through architecture. Students analyzed census data along a 26.2 mile strip in the city to determine different needs for the adjacent population. With cost in mind, students proposed small to large urban interventions using simple materials.

Marcus Prize 2010
(Alejandro Aravena and Adjunct Faculty Ryan O'Connor)In 2009, the Chilean practice of Alejandro Aravena was selected as the third Marcus Prize recipient from the largest pool of nominees to date consisting of 40 international architects drawn from 18 countries. Aravena’s practice, a self-described "Do-Tank," is affiliated with COPEC, a Chilean oil company, and the Universidad Católica de Chile. The affiliation has a social/political agenda and considers architecture a source for building social equity. The studio, which focused on specific architectural challenges that inspire positive change within Milwaukee’s urban fabric, was conducted in 2010.

Marcus Prize 2007
(Frank Barkow, Barkow Leibinger and Associate Professor Kyle Talbott)In 2007, the Berlin-based practice, Barkow Leibinger, was selected as the second recipient of the Marcus Prize from among 26 nominees. The firm is known for its environmentally sensitive industrial buildings, as well as research and experimentation in new building technologies and materials.

Frank Barkow (Barkow Leibinger) and Kyle Talbott (Associate Professor, UWM) co-led the second Marcus Prize Studio. Using the framework of a conventional design/ build studio as a starting point, the teaching dyad asked students to experiment in designer-led building construction by radically reallocating the responsibilities of designers and builders. The intensive curriculum resulted in a fully designed and constructed, permanent, 120 square meter park pavilion and storage facility in a reclaimed Milwaukee industrial corridor. The Barkow-Talbott studio’s built work has been reviewed internationally and is the recipient of the 2008 Mayor’s Urban Design Award.

Marcus Prize 2005
(Winy Maas, MVRDV and Associate Professor Grace La)In May of 2005, a five-person jury convened at the school to select the first recipient of the Marcus Prize. A distinguished pool of international nominators identified 22 candidates, representing nine different countries and a broad spectrum of design agendas. From this pool and following extensive deliberations, the jury selected the Rotterdam firm of MVRDV.

Subsequently, Winy Maas (MVRDV) and Grace La (Associate Professor, UWM) co-led the inaugural Marcus Prize Studio. This teaching dyad undertook design research born from their shared interest in urban form and infrastructure. Speculating upon the notion of skycars in relation to the problems of density, and working fluidly between architectural research, conjecture, and design, the results of the studio are documented in the publication, Skycar City (Actar, 2007). The book sold over one thousand copies in the first weeks of its release and has been reviewed internationally. Additionally, the work of the Skycar City Studio, co-led by Winy Maas and Grace La, was exhibited in the main pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale.